The illness stemmed from an innocuous toe injury sustained during a football game in May 1977. Due to his Rastafari belief that the body must remain “whole”, Marley refused to have his toe amputated even after doctors found a form of malignant melanoma – a less common and very dangerous form of skin cancer – in the wound in July of that year. Despite his distrust of medical doctors he let an orthopaedical surgeon perform a skin graft on his toe but that didn’t stop the cancer’s growth and it eventually spread to his lungs, liver, stomach and brain.
hen was the first indication something was amiss with Bob Marley’s health? According to sources this first happened in the summer of 1977. He injured his right great toe during a Soccer game on tour in Paris, France. The toe nail became partially detached and painful. He admitted to his manager that the toe had been injured before and a wound was “on and off” for years! If that was true, could a malignant melanoma (skin cancer) have been growing there earlier? A wound or sore that refuses to heal is a classic sign of skin cancer.
The hotel doctor was consulted and the right great toe nail was removed and the toe bandaged. No biopsy was done. The European tour continued and the Right great toe appeared to heal. However, later that summer he hurt the toe again playing soccer. It was painful and a new wound opened up and refused to heal. As Bob Marley went to London for a meeting, late that summer (1977), his manager advised him to see a doctor. According to reports the appearance of his toe shocked the Doctor. It was said to be “eating away”. A skin biopsy was done (removal of skin tissue for examination under the microscope).
The shocking diagnosis of a malignant melanoma (Skin Cancer) was given to Bob Marley. He was advised that treatment would be to amputate the toe, to stop the cancer from spreading.
In Miami still in the summer 1977, the British diagnosis of malignant melanoma was confirmed to Bob Marley again. He was advised to get the toe amputated and possibly the right foot. Again he refused.
Why didn’t Bob Marley have the amputation? He cited religious beliefs about “not cutting the flesh”. However he allowed the famous orthopedic surgeon Dr William Bacon to do a surgical excision to “cut away” cancerous tissue on the toe and do a skin graft at Cedar’s of Lebanon Hospital (now University of Miami Hospital). He remained in Hospital one week and spent about three months recuperating in Miami. The procedure was deemed “a success”. But sadly it was not. The cancer in its virulent form began to spread through his body (metastasized).
This brings the question, why would Bob Marley get skin cancer on his toe? First we must remember that Bob was diagnosed with an Acral Melanoma. This type accounts for 70 per cent of melanoma in darkly pigmented individuals or Asians. It typically occurs on non-sun exposed areas as the palm, the sole and mucosa and under the nails. It is characterised by a dark mole or spot that can turn cancerous.
This can happen by repeated trauma to the area or for no reason at all. Studies have shown that darker skin people are more likely to present with advanced disease stage III -IV than whites who typically appear with stage I. This is exactly what happened in Mr Marley’s case. He presented with a skin cancer stage 3-4 on his toe.
He also was fair-skinned of a white father. Being fair-skinned is a risk factor for skin cancer. Melanoma can take years to spread. Most likely he had a pigmented dark mole under his right great toe nail, the continued playing of soccer traumatized the dark mole, which turned cancerous then into a sore. When his cancer was discovered (summer of 1977) the recommendation to amputate his toe would most certainly have saved his life. The surgical excision done and the skin graft (July 1977) was ineffective or simply too late.
As the years went by, his health was deteriorating. He continued to be immersed in his music. In 1976 there was an attempt on his life in Jamaica, Mr Marley narrowly escaped death, He, his wife and manager Don Taylor were shot.
In 1979, Bob Marley visited Nassau, The trip was opposed by some religious ministers.
It does not appear that he followed up on his doctor’s visits. All appeared well until 1980. He released his last album “Uprising” and the band, the Wailers, were planning an American tour with Stevie Wonder for the winter of 1980. By the summer of 1980 the cancer was metastasizing through his body. According to sources, he did not feel well and saw a doctor who gave him clearance to go on tour!
The tour started in Boston followed by New York in September 1980. During the show in New York in Madison Square Gardens Bob looked sick and almost fainted. The very next morning September 21 while jogging through Central Park Bob Marley collapsed and was brought to a hospital. Tests showed a brain tumor, which also most likely had spread from the primary cancer on his right great toe. The cancer was now spreading to his vital organs.
How does a malignant melanoma spread? It is generally agreed that melanoma cells spread via the lymphatic, the blood stream or both. Then it can affect the liver, the lungs, the brain or the bones.
A neurologist gave him one month to live. Rita Marley is said to have wanted the remaining tour cancelled, but Bob wanted to continue. He played his last show in Pittsburgh, but was too ill to continue and the tour was finally cancelled.
That show proved to be his last.
Convinced at last to seek medical treatment, Bob was admitted to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan NY. This center is one of the world’s leading cancer treatment centers. Tests then revealed the malignant melanoma cancer had spread to his lungs and liver. He received a few radiation treatments, but checked out when some New York papers let on that he was seriously ill. He went to Miami, then back to Sloan-Kettering, then Jamaica. Why the back and forth? Some said he hadn’t much faith in “Western Medicine”.
He was advised to seek further help in Germany. Bob and his entourage then travelled to Germany to the Bavarian Clinic of Dr Josef Issels. He was a specialist in Holistics, or Toxic cancer treatment. Why leave a world renowned cancer treatment center like Sloan-Kettering to go to a holistic center? That is a mystery to me.
Towards the end of his life, Marley sought the help of German physician Josef Issels, who offered him an alternative treatment for the cancer. While in Germany Bob Marley celebrated his 36th, and final birthday. While at the center in Germany Bob received such treatments as exercise, ozone injections, vitamins and trace elements. However, as the months went by, he realized that these treatments were not working and his cancer was terminal.
The “Issels” Treatment is based on holistic principles and involves eliminating certain substances from the diet, having specialised vaccines and vitamin supplements, and chelation and enzymatic therapies, not unlike the work —
Dr. Gabriel Cousens is currently doing in Arizona.
TREATMENT
What is the treatment for Advanced Malignant Melanoma ?
According to the American Academy of Dermatology 2010 “No effective therapy exists at that time for metastatic disease to the internal organs”. Until effective therapy is developed the focus must remain on early detection and removal of the primary tumor or mole.
As his metastatic disease progressed, Bob Marley decided to die at home in Jamaica. The group chartered a flight for the trip home. While flying home to Jamaica his vital functions worsened, and the plane was directed to Florida. He was immediately admitted to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital and died May 11, 1981. His wife and mother were by his side. He was said to weigh a shocking 82lbs on the day he died.
He received a state funeral in Jamaica May 21 1981, which combined Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafarian tradition. He was buried with his guitar, a soccer ball, a marijuana bud, a ring and a Bible.
Why was he given clearance to go “on tour” with an advanced malignant melanoma? Did the Doctor really know his condition? Were any medical tests done? Blood, x-rays etc? Was he a medical specialist?
Also how did he manage to survive so long with an advanced cancer? Was it his marijuana use? This is highly unlikely. According to studies it is difficult to predict outcomes for individual patients with melanoma. We know he was a man of incredible stamina and drive.
Would the FDA approved drug Interferon have helped him? This is the only one approved for Adjuvant treatment of malignant melanoma. Definitely, the amputation would have prolonged his life.
Some questions still remain about the Bob Marley story.
Marley collapsed while jogging in New York’s Central Park after playing two shows as part of his autumn 1980 Uprising Tour. The tour was then cancelled, but Marley played one last concert at the Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23rd 1980. The most famous live version of Bob Marley – Redemption Song – Last Concert.
Towards the end of his life, Marley sought the help of German physician Josef Issels, who offered him an alternative treatment for the cancer. The “Issels” Treatment is based on holistic principles and involves eliminating certain substances from the diet, having specialised vaccines and vitamin supplements, and chelation and enzymatic therapies, not unlike the work Dr Gabriel Cousens is currently doing in Arizona.
The method is unapproved in the UK and deemed ineffective by the American Cancer Society.
Marley died shortly afterwards during a stop-over in a Miami hospital whilst on his way back to Jamaica from Germany. It is thought that the brain tumour killed him but the lung and stomach cancer also played their parts.
The star refused to write a will because he believed that doing so would go against the Rastafari belief that life is “everlasting” and ferocious legal battles between Marley’s children ensued as a result of this.
To this day, Bob Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music in the world and is considered a hero by many, especially those with a penchant for cannabis. The singer-songwriter is also hailed for helping the spread of Jamaican music and the Rastafari Movement, of which he remained a committed follower till his death.
In 1994 Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2001 he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.